Learn Your Dog's Language For More Effective Training

If your dog is misbehaving, try to determine why. It is important to work out why your dog is doing what it does. Knowing the reason for poor behavior can make training significantly easier. It is far more difficult to correct an action that you do not fully understand the reasoning behind.

To teach your dog to sit, have him in a standing position and hold a treat in the air. Pass the treat directly above his head, moving your hand behind him. This will cause him to look up as he tries to follow your hand. When a dog does this, it is natural for them to sit.

Always end a training session with your dog on a positive note, even if you have to manipulate the scenario to make your dog successful. Ending a training session immediately after a disciplinary action will mean that your dog will remember the session as being about punishment, not about training.

If you are going to dress your dog up for Halloween, don't be too elaborate. After all, your dog won't have any idea why you are doing such a silly thing, and he may be quite distressed or embarrassed by it. Just do something simple like a bandanna or something that will fit easily on his collar. In this way you will not run the risk of having your dog bolt or hide or engage in some other unexpected, potentially dangerous behavior.

Prepare to administer lessons to your dog repeatedly. Most dogs will not pick up a new command with just one or two tries. Sometimes it is helpful to focus on one or two commands a day so that through your sessions you are repeating enough times to fix the commands solidly in your dog's memory.

Training your puppy should start as early as 6 weeks old. The earlier you can start training your new pup, the better the results will be. Studies have found that dogs are the most receptive to training from 6 to 14 weeks old so use that time wisely.

In order to train your dog to stop barking, it is crucial that you find out what the cause of the barking is. For example, if the reason that your dog is barking is because he is hungry, make sure that you are feeding him often enough. If he is barking because he has to use the bathroom, let him out.

When you are working on dog training, make sure that you are providing him or her with the right balance of food. Imagine if you were eating foods such as turkey or sugar while you are trying to learn, as you can see it would definitely have an influence on your attention factor. The same principles apply to dog training. Stick with foods that will compliment your dog's natural ability to learn.

Not all dog training needs to involve food based treats. Some dog breeds respond better to non-edible rewards. These rewards could very well include stuffed toys, rawhide bones, or rope toys. They will also have the added benefit of giving you and your dog a new activity to enjoy together.

Training your dog is a daily, on-going process. Ask your dog to sit before being petted, fed, or taken outside. By constantly reinforcing lessons, your dog will learn that all commands are applicable in all situations. If you train only in specific locations at specific times, you may end up with a dog that only "sits" in the living room at 6 p.m.!

Like people, different dogs respond better to different training styles. For example, a laidback and loving dog will likely thrive on positive reinforcement, whereas, a more aggressive dog may need negative reinforcement in order to respect your alpha position. If your chosen training method is not working, then it may be time to consider another approach.

Don't get angry or upset if your dog doesn't learn a new trick right away. New tricks take time to learn and require patience and persistence from you. Praise your dog for each correct response and try not to get frustrated. Your dog can sense your frustration and that may cause him to get discouraged.

When you are giving your dog a command, make sure that you do not give it to him or her more than once. If your dog does not respond to the command that you are giving him or her then you need to try to do something to reinforce the command.

Now you see how much you need to put into training a dog. While they are extremely fun to have around the house, they are a lot of work, especially at the beginning. It will be worth it, and you will find you have a new best friend that will love you unconditionally.

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